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Fortunate Son
'' |image= |series= |production=40358-110 |producer(s)= |story= |script=James Duff |director=LeVar Burton |imdbref=tt0572211 |guests=Lawrence Monoson as ' Commander Matthew Ryan', Kieran Mulroney as ' Shaw', Vaughn Armstrong as ' Admiral Forrest', Danny Goldring as ' Nausican Captain', Charles Lucia as ' Captain Keene', D. Elliot Woods as ' Nausican Prisoner', Daniel Asa Henson as ' Boy' and Elyssa D. Vito as ' Girl' |previous_production=Civilization |next_production=Cold Front |episode=ENT S01E10 |airdate=21 November 2001 |previous_release=Civilization |next_release=Cold Front |story_date(s)= |previous_story=Civilization |next_story=Cold Front }} =Summary= An Earth freighter with a crew of 23, ECS Fortunate, is attacked by Nausicaans and Enterprise is sent to help. When they arrive, the freighter is relatively unharmed apart from Captain Keene, who is lying unconscious in the ship's infirmary, but the rest of the crew are secretive and reluctant to provide explanations. While helping repair Fortunate, Sub-Commander T'Pol detects a Nausicaan bio-sign. It transpires that Commander Matthew Ryan and his men are secretly torturing the captive for his shield access codes. Ryan admits the Nausicaan pirate is their prisoner, but refuses to let the Starfleet personnel see him, and Captain Archer threatens to retract his assistance to Fortunate. Ryan seemingly relents, but as Archer and his away team enter a cargo section of the freighter, the cargo pod is suddenly jettisoned with the away team inside. Before Fortunate warps away, it attempts to damage Enterprise in order to delay pursuit. Enterprise recovers its people and begins pursuit of the rogue freighter. Meanwhile, Fortunate arrives at the asteroid used by the Nausicaan pirates, but discover the acquired shield codes are useless. The pirates attempt to board the freighter and rescue their captured crewman just as Enterprise arrives and begins to engage the Nausicaan ships. Archer is soon able to broker a temporary truce: if they can return the Nausicaan captive, the boarding party will stand down. Ryan is uncooperative until Ensign Mayweather intervenes, saying that Ryan's motivations are not about preventing future attacks on Earth ships; they are about personal revenge, and doing so simply exposes other freighter crews to revenge attacks as well. Ryan relents. Later, Archer and Captain Keene of Fortunate discuss Ryan's actions and his demotion to Crewman 3rd class. They agree Ryan acted rashly, but Keene also muses that acting on their own is the primary motivation his people are out here — to both challenge and prove themselves. =Errors and Explanations= Nit Central # Why is Reed asking Travis about the freighter's weapons? I mean he is a tactical expert shouldn't he already know? He can’t be expected to know the weapon setup of every Earth registered freighter! # The captain hasn't heard of Nausicaans? Shouldn't he know about some of the dangers in space? (I guess it was something the Vulcans did not want him to know about. I mean T'Pol knew. She discovered a Nausicaan bio-sign after all) Someone probably assumed that he didn’t need to know about the Nausicaans! # Spockania on Wednesday, November 21, 2001 - 6:32 pm: Okay, I confess I don't understand the "New World Order" of Enterprise. How come Starfleet doesn't have jurisdiction over freighters? Don't they have Coast Guard-style inspection powers? If not, why? eb on Friday, November 23, 2001 - 8:25 am: The Coast Guard guards the coast. They have no jurisdiction over crimes in international waters. Neither does the Navy. Similarly, Star Fleet would certainly have jurisdiction orbiting Earth, or in "Federation Space." However, the Federation has yet to be established. Spockania on Friday, November 23, 2001 - 3:36 pm: eb: Your point is good regarding the coast guard and 'international waters'. But the coast guard (and I believe also the navy) have the right to inspect US flag ships anywhere. Presumably these freighters are "earth flagged" so the Earth starfleet should be able to inspect the freighter anyway. On the other hand, it isn't necessarily a nit I suppose. It does seem related to the "It's bad- go on in" view that the Federation had toward shipping in the gamma quadrant in DS9. The New Warrior on Saturday, November 24, 2001 - 10:17 am: The Coast Guard only has authority in UNITED STATES. waters. The Coast Guard can’t go to the Mediterranean or the Indian Ocean and pull rank. Similarly, Earth hasn’t claimed space in many parts of space because it hasn’t had that many fast ships yet. # How come a Starfleet officer like Archer doesn't seem to know about a planet that seems to be a major base for pirates for a long period of time? The freighter crews probably withheld info on the pirates from Starfleet. #How come Archer didn't call for beam out of the module, or at least threaten to beam out the guys with guns before the module was detached? Sure they don't trust it, but this seems to be an emergency right? The New Warrior on Saturday, November 24, 2001 - 10:17 am: The presumably did do that to get out of there. Given that the freight runners are human, I wouldn’t have thought them capable of such a thing, and perhaps neither did Archer and co.''Seniram 16:37, September 13, 2018 (UTC)''Of course, you are all assuming the walls of the pod are not designed and/or constructed to block transporter beams, in order to prevent theft of the cargo. # Josh G. on Wednesday, November 21, 2001 - 6:46 pm: I don't know about anyone else, but these Nausicaans seem really different from the ones we saw on TNG and DS9 - they look more like the aliens from that episode where Chakotay is brainwashed. Maybe they're distant cousins? Or an evolutionary sub species, whose relationship to the regular TNG Nausicaans is similar to that between the Anear and the Andorians. # Spockania on Wednesday, November 21, 2001 - 6:54 pm: Either these Nausciaans are just naturally aggressive, the freighter captains naturally stubborn, or both sides are really, really dumb. To look at history, the Barbary pirates found it much cheaper to just have tribute paid - and for hundreds of years freighters found it cheaper to pay too. It wasn't until the U.S. lacked the funds to pay, and decided to deploy the navy that the pirates were crushed. (Actually, a situation like that with Archer as a futuristic Stephen Decatur wouldn't be a bad episode…) The New Warrior on Saturday, November 24, 2001 - 10:17 am: Could you elaborate on the whole "tribute" thing, Spockania? How was it cheaper? How did it work? Spockania on Saturday, November 24, 2001 - 2:20 pm: Tribute (in the 19th century) essentially worked like road tolls do today. A nation (or company) would pay a certain amount to (say) the Emir of Tripoli, and in return ships from that nation or company were not pirated. It was cheaper because you didn't lose men and cargo, insurance was lower, and you knew the costs, etc. The pirate liked it because they got the cash without having to risk their necks. TomM on Saturday, November 24, 2001 - 3:17 pm: Spockania, it sounds more like Mob "protection" than tolls. Maybe the negotiations that Archer tried to start result in a form of this racket. Maybe that's why the Horizon has a book about the Mob in Old Chicago when they visit Iotia sometime in the next half-century. ''Seniram 16:37, September 13, 2018 (UTC)''Regarding Spockania’s original question, I’m inclined to favour a combination of natural aggression from the Nausciaans and stubbornness from the freighter captain # SMT on Wednesday, November 21, 2001 - 7:17 pm: Why didn't Enterprise's scanners detect the Nausicaan aboard Fortunate the first time they scanned? It wasn't as if Fortunate had anything to block the scan. There could be been something in the structure which naturally blocked external scans. # For someone who hadn't eaten fresh food in a long time, Ryan sure left a lot on his plate at lunch with Mayweather. TomM on Wednesday, November 21, 2001 - 11:20 pm: Didn't he leave the table in disgust over Mayweather's "recruitment drive"? # When Ryan finally lets the Enterprise crew see the Nausicaan prisoner, Archer brings T'Pol, Reed, and Phlox with him. Why not Sato, who might be needed to translate? (Indeed, we never notice any communication difficulties. Are we to assume these pirates' language is already in the linguistic files?) TomM on Wednesday, November 21, 2001 - 11:20 pm: If the Nausicaan pirates have been preying on the freighters for years, then there language would have been in Starfleet's language banks already, especially since many of the language files came from the Vulcans. # Trike on Wednesday, November 21, 2001 - 7:43 pm: Enterprise is now an NX-class ship. Berman and Braga had originally said that Enterprise had an NX prefix to match later Starfleet experimental ships, such as the Excalibur (NX-2000) and Defiant (NX-74205). Now NX represents a class of ship. So, why will hundreds of later Starfleet vessels of several classes all have the NCC prefix, while only experimental prototypes have NX? The Undesirable Element on Wednesday, November 21, 2001 - 8:18 pm: I see nothing wrong with calling the Enterprise an NX class starship. NX represents "Experimental" so basically the Enterprise is Experimental Class.Trike on Wednesday, November 21, 2001 - 10:03 pm: My nit about the NX class: If Enterprise is an experimental ship, I can understand that. But after the first ship has been tested, commissioned and construction is planned for further ships, why still it an experiment? The New Warrior on Saturday, November 24, 2001 - 10:17 am: Obviously, the NX class DOESN’T mean "experimental", as B&B stated in pre-publicity. Since it was never stated in the show, that notion isn’t canonical. It must only later become the designation for experimental ships. BTW, I don’t know if the Defiant could be considered "experimental" at the end of DS9’s run, but it kept the NX prefix. '' Aaron Dotter on Monday, November 26, 2001 - 1:58 pm:'' The NX class thing threw me as well, but maybe somewhere along the line, Starfleet decided to designate all expermental ships regardless of design NX-whatever to honor this first class of ships. Seniram 16:37, September 13, 2018 (UTC) Personally, I think it makes sense to designate these pre Federation starships as the NX-Class, - the whole class could be considered experimental, due to their use of the Warp 5 Engine. # OK, who is the Fortunate Son? Mayweather? I don’t know about that. Nothing suggested that people on a Starfleet ship were more fortunate than those on freighters. Ryan? Maybe, I presume he actually was a son born on the Fortunate. TomM on Wednesday, November 21, 2001 - 11:20 pm: Actually, he wasn't born on the Fortunate, either. The Title was a riff on the idea of a freighter crew as a family. # I thought the term space boomer was supposed to refer to a generation, like baby boomers. But the freighter captain, who was too old to be in the same generation as Mayweather and Ryan, indicated he was a second- or third-generation boomer. TomM on Wednesday, November 21, 2001 - 11:20 pm: No, its always been clear that "boomer" was a nickname for freighter crew, or perhaps anyone without a "home' planet, at least to me. It seemed obvious that Mayweather was the ship's boomer because of his background, not because of his age, which seems close to Hoshi's and must be close to at least some of the "below decks" crew. # Clint X on Wednesday, November 21, 2001 - 7:47 pm: They eject the storage pod and Archer calls for a shuttle, but where would it dock to pick them up? The first time they went over to the Fortunate the primary docking port was damaged and they had to use the auxiliary port. Neither of these was on a storage pod. How did they get out of this thing? Scott LongLivePorthos! McClenny on Thursday, November 22, 2001 - 5:00 pm: I believe that the cargo pods probably had loading hatches to enable loading and unloading in space, so Archer probably meant for the shuttle pod to dock at the loading hatch.The New Warrior on Saturday, November 24, 2001 - 10:17 am: But the cargo module connects to the Fortunate by a connecting passageway, and Ryan had to seal it off when ejecting the module. Can’t the shuttlepod dock there? # PaulG on Wednesday, November 21, 2001 - 7:55 pm: When Archer is woken up for his message from Star Fleet, I would think he would turn the lights up. This would help him avoid stumbling into things and make it easier for the Admiral to see Archer. Influx on Thursday, November 22, 2001 - 10:06 pm:''I thought the opposite when I saw it. One of my peeves is that on TV, whenever a sleeping person gets a call, they always turn the light on first, then answer the phone. Not me! I always hope I can get back to sleep right away.''The New Warrior on Saturday, November 24, 2001 - 10:17 am: Well, some people do, and some don’t, Paul. There is a long box between my bed and the door, and I’m more than adept at stepping over it when I get up during the night to use the bathroom without turning on the light. The light of Archer’s viewer must be enough for him. Besides, you yourself point out that he already has some lights on. # Archer mentions it is 4am. Which time zone would that be? The Admiral seems to be in daylight. The New Warrior on Saturday, November 24, 2001 - 10:17 am: The Admiral seems to be in his office, Paul, which is obviously well-lit. # I really have to wonder about the justice system shown in this episode. Our freighter first officer attacks four crewmen (and I don't think those weapons have a "stun" setting), he threatens their lives with a hull breach and he fires upon Enterprise. His punishment: a demotion and unpleasant work duties. On the other hand, we have Nausicaan pirates that attack freighters, presumably causing injuries and deaths. Their punishment: an offer of improved diplomatic relations and cooperation. Pardon me, but I don't get it. Was the comfy chair not available? The Undesirable Element on Wednesday, November 21, 2001 - 8:18 pm: Earth is not the police force of the galaxy. They can't go around arresting people from powerful civilizations.Spockania on Wednesday, November 21, 2001 - 9:27 pm: You are certainly entitled to arrest people when they are pirates attacking your ships! Actually, as I (and PaulG) pointed out, law and order in the future seems VERY odd. Apparently, if you own an earth freighter, you are 'on your own'- you have no claim to earth gov't protection, they have no jurisdiction over you. This is a huge change from the 'flag' system that has been used for hundreds of years and is still used today for ocean going ships. Apparently in the future things are more anarchic. Well, at least it would explain why starfleet didn't need to consult a civilian government on a matter of diplomatic importance. With so many civilians running amok uncontrolled, no doubt the earth government feels there is no point keeping close control on the military... # The Undesirable Element on Wednesday, November 21, 2001 - 8:18 pm: Does it seem wise to put the cargo sections on the outer part of the ship? Wouldn't it make more sense to protect them near the inner part? But then maybe they use the cargo sections as shilding should there be trouble. TomM on Wednesday, November 21, 2001 - 11:20 pm: Those cargo pods are basically the equivalent of truck trailers and cargo canisters. When they get a shipment to its destination, they drop it off and pick up another, already loaded. Saves a lot of time. The New Warrior on Saturday, November 24, 2001 - 10:17 am: That, and they can be easier to jettison in case they’re attacked by pirate who are more interested in the cargo, and it makes it easier to load the cargo. # Ryan takes four shots with a primitive gun and blasts a hole through the hull into space. The Naussicans spend several minutes with THREE sophisticated phasers trying to open a door. This is not a good design. Perhaps they should use the door material on the hull. Anonymous on Thursday, November 22, 2001 - 2:22 pm: Maybe Ryan deliberately weakened that section of the hull before he brought Archer and party into the storage pod. Then he could shoot it out more easily when he was ready to dump them. (This may not be the best explanation, but it's a possibility, anyway.) # Admiral Forrest says that the nearest Starfleet vessel is 3 weeks away. What Starfleet vessel? I thought the Enterprise was the first Starfleet vessel to be launched. Have there been others since then? Mayweather does mention 3 other NX class vessels being designed.TomM on Wednesday, November 21, 2001 - 11:20 pm: We are talking about older, slower, Starfleet vessels.ScottN on Thursday, November 22, 2001 - 10:29 am: So let me get this straight. The Enterprise is outside of "known space", but it is essentially "the only ship in the quadrant"???? William un-nitter Berry on Thursday, November 22, 2001 - 10:57 am: ScottN, I bought that hook, line, and sinker. If the other Star Fleet ships can do warp 1.8 and the enterprise can do warp 5 it can be farther away in "unknown space" but be able to get there before any other Star Fleet ship. I missed the beginning of the episode, so I missed the exact wording. Did the Admiral say, "You are the closest ship," or, "You will get there before the other ship."? (I hate punctuation dilemmas like that. Sheesh, the Admiral didn't ask a question, I did.) TomM on Thursday, November 22, 2001 - 11:31 am: The admiral compared the two Starfleet ships' positions to the freighter in terms of travel time, not distance, and spoke of the other ship as "the closest," not "the next closest." Brian Fitzgerald on Thursday, November 22, 2001 - 11:36 am: He said the nearest other ship was 3 weeks away. # Why don't these freighters have Warp 5 engines? (Or at least the warp 3 engine mentioned several times in this episode) It's not economical to take a 5 year cargo run when you can do it in 6 months. TomM on Wednesday, November 21, 2001 - 11:20 pm: Warp 5 (Military) and Warp 3 (Commercial) engines have only just finally been approved for production. That's why the Enterprise is the first Warp 5 ship. It's also why The Enterprise, far out in unexplored territory is the only ship that can aid the Fortunate in a reasonable amount of time -- Older Starfleet vessels are barely faster (if at all) than the freighters. This might also answer the question why freighters are so independant of, and distrustful of Starfleet. Until now, they only ran across them when approachin ports, where they handled Customs and import duties. But even on the assumption that the Warp 3 engines have been available longer, don't forget that these are independant merchant vehicles. They probably have to save up for years to afford a better engine, and in the meantime, better weapons and sheilding seem a more urgent priority. # William un-nitter Berry on Thursday, November 22, 2001 - 10:57 am: Sorry, I don't remember who pointed out the puny earth weapons causing a hull breach while the mighty Nausicaan weapons have trouble with a door. The Nausicaan have are some sorta energy beam (gee, do people actually say "some sorta"). If I remember correctly the freighter crew use guns with bullets. There are some types of bullets that will break up if they meet resistance of say, a bulkhead. To puncture the hull he must not have one of those. The Nausicaans would be foolish to use an energy weapons that can accidentally cause a hull breach while they are inside. ''inblackestnight on Wednesday, July 11, 2007 - 10:16 am:''They weren't bullets, they were a pulse-style energy weapon. # Anonymous on Thursday, November 22, 2001 - 2:22 pm: Hoshi refers to the "away team" when the storage pod is about to be cut loose from the Fortunate. Maybe she felt that, as Archer’s group were away from Enterprise visiting another ship, the term ‘Landing Party’ was not an appropriate term to use. # Who's in charge of Tactical while Reed is with the landing party? I also wondered about this in TAI, when Reed was the acting captain. It would make sense for him to have a dedicated deputy, due to the importance of the Tactical station. # Influx on Thursday, November 22, 2001 - 10:15 pm: It still sounds a little odd to hear "bio-signs" instead of "life-signs". To me, life-signs are general, denoting something there, or not (and maybe the species.) Bio-signs seem like they should be more specific, like heart-rate, temperature, breathing, etc. But the terms are obviously not being used that way. Based on the usage here, I think it makes more sense for the terms to be used the other way, that is Bio signs for species id, and life signs for things like heart rate, breathing, etc, which would indicate signs of life! # Clint X on Friday, November 23, 2001 - 3:13 pm: Where was the power source for the ejected cargo compartment located. Apparently it still had artificial gravity (everybody and everything seemed stuck to the floor)and lighting. Does this seem right? Each pod could have it’s own reserve power system. # Chief Sharky on Sunday, November 25, 2001 - 2:12 pm: In the TOS episode, A Piece of the Action, it mentions the visit of a ship called Horizon to Sigma Iotia. It states that when that visit occured, a century before the episode, subspace radio had not been invented yet. The Horizon visit would have taken place in 2167. So if subspace radio didn't exist in 2167, how could it exist in 2151, sixteen years earlier? The Undesirable Element on Sunday, November 25, 2001 - 3:06 pm: Actually, the creators were very careful to show that the ship was travelling at warp while Archer was talking to Admiral Leonard on the subspace radio. Although it hasn't been stated in an episode yet, TPTB have said that vessels can only use the subspace radio while at warp. SMT on Monday, November 26, 2001 - 10:16 am: Interesting. But then ... how does Starfleet Command, on Earth, use the subspace radio? Do they accelerate the whole planet to warp speed to send a call to Archer? (I'd think I would have noticed the nacelles.) Perhaps only one person needs to be at warp. I was under the impression (keep in mind, many of my impressions are wrong) that when a ship is at warp, it is travelling in subspace. I was also under the impression that subspace radio meant that messages were sent through subspace. Perhaps a message cannot be recieved unless you are in subspace to pick it up. These are just a few thoughts. This does not explain away the nit. I see what you're saying. Both parties should have to be at warp. ScottN on Monday, November 26, 2001 - 1:18 pm: So how do they use subspace radio to communicate between planets? I'd never seen any sort of limitation on subspace radio before (of course, TOS and later *are* supposed to have more advanced tech than ENT). Sparrow47 on Monday, November 26, 2001 - 5:05 pm: This supposed anti-nit really doesn't hold up at all. Archer mentions something about subspace antennas to boost the range of the radios. Fine, but if you have to be at warp when you use subspace radio, wouldn't these antennas have to be at warp all the time? What would they do, fly around in little warp circles? Doesn't this violate our favorite rule of warp travel, "Faster than light, no left or right?" And then there's the fact that somehow Earth must be traveling at warp for this to work. Obviously something fishy is going on there. Add to that the fact that they said in "A Piece of the Action" that the Horizion visited the planet before subspace radio was invented, then Enterprise should not have subspace radio at all! Period! TJFleming on Wednesday, November 28, 2001 - 9:23 am: My back-of-the-envelope theory of subspace radio: It simply allows a signal to pass between normal space and subspace. A transmission from a planet crosses the "barrier," is picked up by the nearest ship in subspace (i.e., at warp), and is relayed among all ships in subspace (something like cellular towers). The one nearest the intended receiver then transmits across the "barrier" into normal space. Why do you have to be at warp to use it? How about: crossing the barrier so degrades the signal that only a massive, ground-based antenna array can originate/receive it. So you need to be either at warp or within radio range of a ground relay station. Fleshed out, this could probably comport with subspace theory, but would likely be irreconcilable with canon. Suggestions? Summerfield on Wednesday, February 20, 2002 - 9:51 pm: Tentative - very tentative - anti-nit on the subspace radio question. If the Horizon is a freighter similar to the Fortunate, and Sigma Iotia is a good distance away, perhaps when the Horizon left subspace radio had not existed yet. Why a freighter would spend sixteen years going there is another question; the Iotians didn't seem to have anything to attract trade. LUIGI NOVI on Wednesday, February 20, 2002 - 11:16 pm: Just one thing: In what context was the comment about subspace radio made in A Piece of the Action (TOS)? Was it specifically couched to indicate SSR didn't exist in that time period, or was it worded to indicate that it didn't exist in the time period in which the Horizon was launched? Very important question. If it's clear it's the former, then the anti-nit won't work. If it's unspecific enough for us to assume it can be the latter, then that would work, Summerfield.Seniram 16:37, September 13, 2018 (UTC) The term subspace radio could intendede to refer to a radio capable of generating it's own subspace field as part of the transmission process, instead of relying on external subspace fields used by a ship travelling at warp speeds. # constanze on Monday, May 26, 2003 - 3:17 am: So, are all nausicaans pirates, or is ryan so bent on revenge that he wants to kill all? Archer doesn't mention that starting a war with a whole alien nation by firing indiscrimantely at them will turn out bad for everybody around. Ryan says if he gives the hostage back, his government will only award him, so are all nausicaans pirates or does only ryan believe this? If they are, it seems awfully stereotyped for star trek.So, are all nausicaans pirates, or is ryan so bent on revenge that he wants to kill all? Archer doesn't mention that starting a war with a whole alien nation by firing indiscrimantely at them will turn out bad for everybody around. LUIGI NOVI on Tuesday, May 27, 2003 - 7:59 pm: I don’t recall him deciding to kill them “all,” or starting anything with a “whole nation,” just the ones who attacked the Fortunate. constanze on Tuesday, May 27, 2003 - 2:45 am: Depending on how the nausicaan governement views it, a war can be started by firing on aliens, when its not done during a firefight in self-defense, but pursuing a vessel and then firing on it instead of calling the official authorities. Likewise holding a nausicaan hostage instead of turning him over. LUIGI NOVI on Tuesday, May 27, 2003 - 7:59 pm: Not if the aliens in question are pirates in unclaimed space attacking innocent ships. The producers and crew of the first season of Survivor had to contend with the genuine danger of pirates. Even if one of the crew shot at one of the pirate boats or blew it up, and one of the pirates was Chinese, and another South African, and another American, that doesn’t mean that the U.S., China and South Africa would regard the pirates as nationals and react in that way. The only people who might have authority to take action against the crew would be the authorities of the country whose waters they were in, and in Fortunate Son, it seemed to have been indicated that the space through which the Fortunate ran freight wasn’t claimed by anyone.''constanze on Wednesday, May 28, 2003 - 3:06 am:''I think law in international waters is different from law in the 12-mile-zone. But I also guess it would depend on the particular country involved. I can well imagine some 2-bit dictator making an issue of somebody else firing at a national even if the national in question was acting like a pirate at that time. # LUIGI NOVI on Tuesday, May 27, 2003 - 1:49 am: I found it very strange that when Travis and ryan eat in the mess hall, and ryan says what happened on that frighter before (he doesn't elaborate, so we don't know what happened, exactly, only sth. bad), travis tells him about what a good idea it would be to join starfleet. So if life on a freigher is too dangerous because pirates sometimes kill someone, you should join starfleet, where you have to go into the unknown and will be killed with a much higher probability, because you will encounter much more danger? I was surprised that ryan didn't laugh at this kind of logic.constanze on Tuesday, May 27, 2003 - 2:45 am: But the logic is implied. ''LUIGI NOVI on Tuesday, May 27, 2003 - 7:59 pm:''Well, I didn’t see it implied. To each his own. :) And during most of history, as well as the general principle, the navy or fleet was stronger armed than merchants, but still more people were killed in the navy. Also, the very principle of starfleet - to seek out unknown and boldly go... - makes it highley likely of meeting aliens and space phenomenon against which even enterprise weapons are puny. The merchants, which fly a limited number of well-traveled, well-explored routes, deal with known dangers. If the armament of the nausicaans is known, they can invest in better weapons against the pirates.''LUIGI NOVI on Tuesday, May 27, 2003 - 7:59 pm:''And a Warp 3 engine. But that depends on whether such things are within the financial reach of freight runners. # constanze on Tuesday, May 27, 2003 - 2:45 am: When Ryan arrives at the asteroids there are several ships around. He immediately, without any further proof, assumes this is a pirates nest, where they deal with the bounty, and tries to fire and destroy all ships. (He doesn't even stop to think that there might be woman and children on some of them. For him, nausicaans=pirates = bad = can be killed). ''LUIGI NOVI on Tuesday, May 27, 2003 - 7:59 pm:''IIRC, I believe he tracked the specific ship that attacked the Fortunate, he didn’t simply look for any old bunch of Nausicaans. # I was also a little surprised that Archer, who always refuses help from Vulcans or anybody else because he has to do everything himself, now expects and demands that the frighter crew allow him to help them instead of continuing to do the repairs on their own. LUIGI NOVI on Tuesday, May 27, 2003 - 7:59 pm: IIRC, his original antipathy towards the Vulcans is because they wouldn’t help Earth by withholding the technology for Warp 5, not because they were offering it and he refused. I’m not sure I can think of anything we’ve seen that fits your description “refuses help from vulcans or anybody else because he has to do everything himself.” He accepted the help of the Axanar in Fight or Flight. He sent a distress signal to the Vulcans in Fallen Hero. He sought the help of the alien repair station in Dead Stop. He asked the miners for deuterium in Marauders. He demanded the Vulcans give them data on Pa’nar Syndrome in Stigma. He fled to the Vulcans for help in Future Tense. # I do not understand the whole jurisdiction issue. These freighters belong to earth, so a starfleet ship should have the obligation to help them when they are attacked, no matter which race the space belongs to. As long as its clear that non-military vessels are attacked by outlaws/ pirates, isn't the military generally obliged / expected to help? LUIGI NOVI on Tuesday, May 27, 2003 - 7:59 pm: So if an American is attacked in Mexico or Canada, American police cars can pursue the attackers and arrest them in those countries? ''constanze on Wednesday, May 28, 2003 - 3:06 am:''No, first of all, in Mexico or Canada, there are police of their own around to protect citizens. I was trying to compare it to the sea (since a lot of Star Trek is based on space =sea, Star Fleet = Navy analogy, anyway). On international waters, which don't belong to any specific country, there is no police to protect citizens. Mind you, I have no knowledge of how the actual law is in these cases (maybe Maquis lawyer could tell?), but I'm going from what I've heard and what seems common sense to me. If you have other information, my point might be different. # inblackestnight on Wednesday, July 11, 2007 - 10:16 am: What took Archer so long to call Enterprise when he and the landing party were ambushed in the cargo container? He probably needed to boost the signal to get it past the walls of the pod. # Can't trained SF officers seal a small hole in the hull, perhaps even with a phase-pistol? The energy beam from the pistol could end up enlarging the hole! # The Fortunate knocked out NX-01's long-range sensors and they get away. Enterprise shouldn't need LR sensors since Fortunate can only go warp 1.5. Just go to maximum warp in the direction the freighter did and overtake them. What’s to stop the Fortunate changing course as soon as they are out of range of the short range sensors on Enterprise? Category:EpisodesCategory:Enterprise